I saw something cool.

I saw something totally awesome on my way to work. Arnold Widowmaker and I usually leave around 9:30, and that’s at the tail end of the peak morning bicycle rush. The route I take to work is almost never gridlocked, so I do the two-and-a-half miles in about fifteen minutes. That’s pretty good for rush hour.

One thing that gets my time down is the giant hill in northwest DC. (Well, giant for DC. Seattle and San Francisco bikers would probably bike up it as a cool-down.) On 14th St, it’s epic. It’s like a roller coaster. I come right off my relatively quiet block onto 14th, right, and I’m looking back and forth gauging space between the cars and trying to get my speed up to keep up with the traffic. The road begins to slant and my center of gravity starts shifting as Arnold picks up momentum. Just as the hill gets steep, I reach over and pull my big gear shifter, the one I almost never use. After several rotations it falls into place with a satisfying clunk, and I take OFF.

So that in itself is probably one of the most legitimate ways in the universe to commute to work. But today I saw something even cooler. I was on the hill, right, and I had just shifted gears and bent low over my saddle, when I saw another biker go past me like I was standing still. Which shouldn’t have happened, because I was going very fast. Even Lance shouldn’t have passed me that fast.

So I look, and this dude has one hand out and is holding onto a TRUCK! He’s not even pedaling!

I've never seen anyone do that outside of a professional bike race. He held onto the truck until the bottom of the hill and then let go and shot off into the distance. I had gone into a sprint so I could catch him at the next light and tell him how legit he was, and ask how he did it, but there was no way I could catch up with him.
Tomorrow I’m adjusting my helmet and waiting for a truck!